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Nationwide Autocenters

“
Nationwide Autocentres, one of the leading UK MOT and car servicing specialists, are committed to the highest levels of service and trust, and this has been endorsed by our centres having AA Approved Servicing Centre Status. „

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I took my car for an MOT here and following them failing it for numerous reasons and calculating a bill for £300+ I took it to another garage who passed it with flying colours. The customer service is appalling and on my partner asking for a VT17 form to appeal the MOT result he was met by aggression and intimation from the staff. Do not use this garage!! I would not even rate it one star. I am taking my complaint to trading standards.

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NEVER USE AGAIN

I am seething as I read some of these reviews on this forum and wanted to share an experience I had yesterday. My father, a pensioner took his car to Halfords for a £115 oil change but was called by the service manager to report that a serious problem had been found with the brakes. A rear wheel cylinder was leaking, contaminating the brakes which could cause a catastrophic accident!! To add to this the front brake discs were also seriously warped and needed replacing. (They were replaced 25,000 ago)

After putting the fear of god into the old man, and telling him that he would have to sign forms indicating that he had been informed of this, and that any subsequent accident would be solely his responsibility, my Dad gave them the go ahead to complete the work. He was then told the cost..... £650 on top of the service cost. Feeling a bit of a mug he didnt have the gall to then refuse. He called me for a second opinion. On hearing this, I went straight to the garage and stopped the work half way through. The car was put back together and the repairs have been booked in at another garage for ... wait for it.... £117. This price includes all the work that Halfords were to undertake including the front brakes (which were hammered off) and I suspect did not need replacing in the first place!

Avoid this chain at all costs, I have found that the smaller independants are more honest, reliable and reasonable than chains like this that have only one aim, which is to make their daily branch targets. My Dad was lucky, and I'm glad that he rang me for a second opinion. He is glad as well, as he is over £500 better off!!

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Just don't go there

I took my Audi TT to change a leaking rear brake caliper to the centre in Acton.

When I collected the car after a couple of hours the central locking system wasn't working anymore. I pointed it out to the receiptionist who told me the battery in the key must have gone dead! he attempted to change it but said he didn't have it in stock. I didnt know what to say at that point and I had to drive off. I went and changed the batteries myself, giving them the benefit of doubt (even though I doubt my car self decided to faild the central locking in those 2 hours whilst at the centre). Clearly it did not work. I went back and explain the situation (the receptionist surprisingly remebered me) but the answer I got is that they have nothing to do with it and it is my problem.

I personally believe they knew something must have happened, also because in the invoice they quoted me for other jobs that should have been done but didnt mention the central locking system.

Very unprofessional service and unethical people.

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took my car to halfords welwyn garden on 21 Dec which is the day showed exactly on my comfirmation, but been told service rescheduled to 22(no notice was given in advance, also no appologies at all). No choice but to drop the car on 21 dec and come back on 22. after paid, I received a long list of report but just realised with 195 not even get a fuel filter replaced. no more further business with them for sure, and higly recommend you to leave away from this firm.

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AVOID this firm

I took my car in for a "full service" to Letchworth , Hertfordshire, branch of nationwide autocentre. When I collected the car I asked how the Plugs and points were. I was told those items were not included in a "full service". I asked what exactly was done for the £199. . Eventually the man admitted that only the oil and filter had been done. I said I was not happy to pay £199 to have an oil change. The thug at the depot said, "you pay the full amount or we keep your car"! The car broke down twice on the way home fron the centre. These oafs must have had their customer care course from the Kray brothers!I had to take the vehicle to another garage for the proper service. I would not let these wasters service my bicycle. AVOID AT ALL COST .Go to a reputable garage

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Please do not think of taking your car into this garage unless you have alot of money in the BANK. I took my car into them for MOT because they were offering half price MOT's my car never fails so was surprised when they told me it failed for a bulb, this bulb ended up costing me £50 because they said the cable wasn't working however when I picked up the car I was told that the cable wasn't fixed but they had played around with it to get it working, what an expensive BULB nothing fixed unbelieveable. So the half price MOT didn't really save me any money appears to be a con.

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These guys are not different from the dodgy washing machine repairmen shamed in TV programs for botched jobs and phantom repairs!In 2008 I took my car for a MOT and it only passed after paying nearly £300 for having the brakes fixed. Two years later (Aug 2010) I took my car for MOT and the brakes failed again? You would think that if the problem was fixed in the first instance that repair job would last at least 2 years. When I queried this oddity the bafoons simply ignored my letter. Keep away from them. Once they get you behind their doors you and your cheque book are at their mercy.

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STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!!! Liars and cowboys. Went to get service on my car from Coventry (Halfords on Foleshill Road). They told me OSF front tyre was worn to chords and brake pads were worn to the metal and that the brake discs were ribbed and there was a lap and they needed to be be replaced immediately, all in all the bill came to £700. Refused to change brake discs.Got to garage and was shown tyre and brake pads, they were not in as bad a shape as they made out but still 80% worn and tyre was stuffed. Car was parked so that I could not see all around the car. Found they had severely damaged the OSF alloy wheel and smeared grease all over it to hide damage. Paid for brake fluid change and found virtually no fluid in system. Rip off and dangerous

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I have been pleased with the service I have received from F1 Autocentre

I have been very pleased with the service I have received from F1 Autocentre in Chesterfield since September 2009. I bought an old BMW 518i (1987) which has needed a fair amount of work doing to it. I moved up to Chesterfield in September and found F1 Autocentre. Their customer service is excellent - everyone is unfailingly polite, helpful and really good at keeping me informed as to what is happening with my car.

I asked the staff at F1 for a full list of all the work that needed doing on my BMW and they provided it and identified the work that needed doing immediately, or fairly soon, and the work that could wait. They were prepared to spend time and effort to make sure I understood all the problems and the options for fixing them. If something went wrong with the BMW they could often fit it in at short notice at the weekend and in January, when my exhaust broke, a lot of garages might have charged me a fortune for a new exhaust. F1 had a look at it and assured me it could be repaired rather than replaced. This cost very little compared to the huge bill I had expected and I really appreciated their honesty.

Sadly my BMW has now become quite uneconomical to run so I've bought a newish VW Polo which I will be taking back to F1 for all the servicing and MOTs. If all garages offered a service like F1 in Chesterfield, it would make car maintenance a real hassle free experience.

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The pen coils on my renault become water logged diagnosied by AA.Took to Nationwide and they wanted £45 +vat for AC Delco replacements said that was the best price. Wwhen I told him I had found same parts at local Motorserv for £29 including vat in stock, he changed his price to match.They (Nationwide) also diagnosied the Cat had gone, yet when I poped by the guy was out test driving the car, but if Cat goes the car does not run!! They then changed story to sounds like it's on it's way out because it rattles. It might need replacing but not at their prices sorry.

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I have been using nationwide for quite some time BUT recently their service has been changed drastically. Several friends told me about their bad experinces but i rely on my own experience. This time i took my mercedes for major service. After 1 week message on screen popped up to topup the oil. then smoke from engine started and oil seals leaked. Their usual answer was that it is running fine, dont worry. Its not very old mercedes its late 2005 model, 1 owner. Since that engine is very sluggish & is dragging itself. They did a very poor job this time. I am thinking of going somewhere else as them being too busy is affecting their quality & i cant risk my car with them.I think i wont be going back to them.

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I won't be going back

I have used Nationwide Autocentre for several years and always found their service very good. However this has recently changed. I took my car for a major service and MOT. The car passed its test but the following day when I checked the oil I noticed that the windscreen washer reservoir hadn't been topped up. The sparkplugs weren't changed [they told me they didn't need changing yet] The other day the car broke down 200 miles from home and when I took it to a franchised dealer they diagnosed an electical fault connected with the spark plugs, they also gave the car a 'health check' and found the coolant level to be dangerously[ their words] low. I paid the thick end of £300 for this service. If they can't be bothered to check basic things like washer levels it makes me think what else don't they do. I think it's time to go back to a proper franchised dealer, they may cost a bit more but I know who I'd trust with my car

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my overall experience of NWAC has been fantastic and I would reccommend them to EVERYONE!

I am SHOCKED at the reviews I have been reading about NWAC... I have been taking my car to my local 'Braintree' garage for almost 3 years now and I have had the complete opposite experience to almost everyone on here!

I am one of these people who thinks there is ALWAYS something wrong with my car, but know absolutely nothing about them to really know for sure ... in other words EASY to RIP OFF! NWAC have been the first mechanics that I have trusted and felt comfortable taking my car to every single time I get paranoid about my car.

They always fix the problem quickly and efficiently, I never leave thinking that I have been ripped off or feel like I have shelled out too much money!! They will happily check it and if nothing is wrong send me on my way without charging me a penny (unlike a number of other garages that I have encountered!) and on top of all that they are always friendly, happy and willing to go out of their way to help their customers.

...I dont see anything wrong with the prices they charge, I would rather pay a little more to get a great service and my car fixed by a professional then pay less for some idiot to do it.

Obviously I cant speak for all the NW branches... and the point is, it all comes down to staff... if the mechanics at your local NWAC are incompetent, moron, rip-off's, then find somewhere else to take your car.

But if you are looking for friendly, honest mechanics who know what they are doing to work on your car then Braintree (Essex) NWAC is the place to go!

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I would warn everyone NOT to use NATIONWIDE AUTOCENTRES for an MOT or SERVICE.I took my car for servicing and MOT after getting a quote from their website directly. Had some tesco vouchers with me so decided to use these.The guy at Nationwide took the price of my service up by £30 saying that this was the standard price because I had tesco vouchers. He also increased the price of my MOT by £27 (again... coz I had tesco vouchers).... overall I ended up losing £57 out of the £75 pounds worth of vouchers I had. Why would tesco link up with these people and advertise them as giving discounts with tesco vouchers coz the discounts do NOT apply !Will never be using them again !

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I wont go back unless I really have to

People of the internet I leave you to make your own mind up about my experience with Nationwide Autocentres. 6 months ago the indicator unit from my car was stolen so needed it replaced. NWAC charged £50 to have it replaced, the unit has done nothing but leak in wet weather and their rewiring was a shambles. I checked after the work was done and found that the unit costs no more than £15 and takes seconds to fit, the wiring minutes. £50 = Very Expensive for the parts & labour in my opinon.

I recently took my car for its MOT where NWAC failed it on several things that demand plenty labour charges, advising it would costs just shy of £500 worth of work to pass. Unconvinced by their findings and several attempts of closing me so they can do the work, i decided to get a second opinion...

The second garage passed my car with only a charge of £180. This charge was however nothing to do with what NWAC failed the car on. I was advised that their failing points were overly harsh and fell into the 'advisory category'. In fact welding had to be carried out on a hole on the underside of my car, something fairly obvious that NWAC did not discover. All passed for £180 inc the MOT charge elsewhere - minus the hole under my car.

I must admit that they have always been friendly with their approach but in my opinion they do like to create work for themselves, unless you know exactly what you want them to do and you're firm with them.

I leave you to make your own opinion of my story. However I would comment that I am concerned with my experiences so far. I saved £320 on my MOT elsewhere, however would have been very easy for me to pay the extra charges with NWAC if I did not have the mind to get a second opinion.